Kuwaiti Startup General Senses Takes the First Prize at Seedstars Kuwait
The startup has just won the Kuwaiti round of Seedstars World and will represent the country at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland to compete for up to $1 million in equity investment and prizes.
November kicked off on a promising note for Kuwaiti startup General Senses, who just nabbed the first prize at Seedstars Kuwait, as the global hub for startups in emerging economies rolls on its tour across the Middle East in search of the top startups. The company, a Kuwaiti leader in sensory and experiential technologies, focuses on pioneering VR, AR, and natural human interfaces, creating "immersive experiences" through VR.
As a part of the prize, the startup will be heading off to the Seedstars Summit taking place in Switzerland in April 2018, and will access a week-long training programme with the opportunity to meet the other 65 winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of audience of 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning up to $1 million in equity investment and prizes.
General Senses thus beat a competition where eight other startups pitched in front of the jury, which included Redha Behbehani (from Kuwait University), Abdulaziz Hayat (from Faith Capital), Mohamed Altawash (from CH9), and Anurag Agarwal (from ArzanVC). While Aldo de Luca, the Swiss Ambassador in Kuwait and Charles Cole of the US Embassy in Kuwait, both inspired the audience with their keynote speeches and an engaging panel on the subject of How to Approach Investors, was moderated by Haider Al-Mosawi of Sirdab Lab with guest speakers Athbi Alenezi from JustClean and Abdulaziz Al Loughani from Faith Capital.
Coming in second place was Pantrybee, a startup whose culinary site makes it easier for users to cook at home, offering mealkits, utensils, kitchenware and more, and Zahhab - a student community that provides all necessary academic assistance to university students and professors, grabbed the last spot in the top three. The event took place on at AlShaheed Park Phase II, with local Ambassadors of Seedstars World, Sirdab Lab's help, as well as the support of the US Embassy in Kuwait and the National Fund for SME Development.
After having toured the Middle East in search for the region's top startups, from Egypt, to Lebanon, to Morocco and Kuwait, Seedstars World’s next stop is Bahrain for its MENA Summit on December 14th, to gather all the MENA Winners, investors and corporates in Manama to build bridges between the regional entrepreneurship ecosystems.
Find out more and attend the event in Manama for free through this link.
